Bipolar Disease

[Betty Blue]

I haven't been able to creatively write for 8 years--- I can give a million and one ideas away, but I can't keep any for myself

I can relate, i got to a point 5 ish years ago when i couldn't even fill in a form. I remember sitting in the bank with the advisor trying to get me to fill in my details and i just stared at the paper. She thought i was illiterate and i just sat there in tears, poor woman looked so embarrased for me but i could not write a thing, in the end i just stood up and walked away.

If you have that creativity in you somewhere i'd still say you are creative, even if you have writers block.

 

[miss fortune]

yeah- the thought of putting anything on paper except for writing research papers leaves me mentally blank

I can bake all kinds of breads and pastries though! edible creativity is a good thing!

I'd still happily give it up though- mixed episodes are a b!tch... and not feeling in control of my mind is disturbing

 

[Betty Blue]

yeah- the thought of putting anything on paper except for writing research papers leaves me mentally blank

I can bake all kinds of breads and pastries though! edible creativity is a good thing!

I'd still happily give it up though- mixed episodes are a b!tch... and not feeling in control of my mind is disturbing

Yah, edible creativity = much fun, and yummy fun!

Mixed episodes are what i've mostly had and have been very dangerous for me. Many hospital trips and a spell in a psych ward in the mix. Although i can honestly say i have stabilised in the past couple of years and can see clearly now. I put the changes down to stopping alcohol and drugs.

I would change bi-polar in my Grandmother though, she committed suicide and i never got to meet her.

 

[miss fortune]

yeah, I've mostly stabilized thanks to cutting out everything bad, but I'm still afraid of reoccurances

I don't like that... and I was just as good at baking before that!

 

[CzeCze]

While I think 'enhanced creativity' might be correlated with bipolar disorder, I disagree you have to have a mental disorder or chemical imbalance (or use substances) in order to be highly creative. Or that the majority of the "best artists and visionaries" have some kind of chemical imbalance or mental disease or disorder. Some artists and pioneers may be 'crazy' by the popular slang understanding of the word, but that doesn't mean they are clinically so.

I also hesitate to embrace manic-depression as a gift, I'm sure the manic episodes may may be one hell of a high (based on 1 person irl describing their episodes to me and also reading a story of woman who liked her manic episodes so much she stopped medication and ultimately committed suicide) but everything else coupled with it - yikes.

I know in recent years there's been more research into how brain damage has sometimes affected people's personalities in fundamental ways. I guess personality types or traits are 'linked' in unexpected ways with parts of your brain and neurological pathways?

One senior citizen was was a retired banker had brain surgery and suddenly lost all inhibition and became a skilled enough artist in some months just by taking community art classes to have his art shown at galleries. He would strip and go skinny dipping at the public pool.

So basically, again, I can see how bipolar disorder or neurological/brain diseases could affect creativity, and also see how creativity is sometimes (not always) clustered with other personality traits, but only as much as creativity is locked within the human brain and is accessible to all of us by virtue of being human.

 

[ajblaise]

While I think 'enhanced creativity' might be correlated with bipolar disorder, I disagree you have to have a mental disorder or chemical imbalance (or use substances) in order to be highly creative. Or that the majority of the "best artists and visionaries" have some kind of chemical imbalance or mental disease or disorder. Some artists and pioneers may be 'crazy' by the popular slang understanding of the word, but that doesn't mean they are clinically so.

I also hesitate to embrace manic-depression as a gift, I'm sure the manic episodes may may be one hell of a high (based on 1 person irl describing their episodes to me and also reading a story of woman who liked her manic episodes so much she stopped medication and ultimately committed suicide) but everything else coupled with it - yikes.

I know in recent years there's been more research into how brain damage has sometimes affected people's personalities in fundamental ways. I guess personality types or traits are 'linked' in unexpected ways with parts of your brain and neurological pathways?

One senior citizen was was a retired banker had brain surgery and suddenly lost all inhibition and became a skilled enough artist in some months just by taking community art classes to have his art shown at galleries. He would strip and go skinny dipping at the public pool.

So basically, again, I can see how bipolar disorder or neurological/brain diseases could affect creativity, and also see how creativity is sometimes (not always) clustered with other personality traits, but only as much as creativity is locked within the human brain and is accessible to all of us by virtue of being human.

"There was never a genius without a tincture of madness" - Aristotle

Creative thought seems to exist in the realm of nonsensical free association. And if you don't reach in, you don't get the prize.

 

[Rebe]

Last summer, I think my anti-depressant drugs pushed me toward manic and I did some really weird, slightly crazy things ... now I am fine and very reasonable. Hmmm. I used to be quite a writer, but haven't written since I have been in a reasonable mood.

 

[Shimmy]

I started a thread on this a while back. I realized after watching a Stephen Fry documentary on manic depression that my mood does indeed change along with the seasons. Now this is fairly common amongst all people, but last year I was clearly more affected then years before, and definitely more than anybody else I know was.

brain chemistry and trigger experiences have nothing to do with personality type... I should know

I don't necessarily agree, some types of behaviour can easily be connected to both a state of brain chemistry and a function. Aspergers can in some cases be recognized as extreme Ti, Mania as extreme Ne etc. (Mister_eyebrows is gonna hand my ass to me if he reads this post ).

I'd like to add the fantastic Spike Milligan to that list and also the wonderful Stephen Fry...both held very highly in my esteem!
I'm ENFP and apparently bi-polar (most likely type 2), very creative and can see the creative correlation.

Stephen Fry is awesome.

While I think 'enhanced creativity' might be correlated with bipolar disorder, I disagree you have to have a mental disorder or chemical imbalance (or use substances) in order to be highly creative. Or that the majority of the "best artists and visionaries" have some kind of chemical imbalance or mental disease or disorder. Some artists and pioneers may be 'crazy' by the popular slang understanding of the word, but that doesn't mean they are clinically so.

Like GemPOPGem said, the ability to make correlations and connections most other people can't make can manifest itself in extreme creativity. There is for instance a statistically undeniable link between tone-colour synaesthesia and musicality. The same goes for manic depression and creativity. You don't have to have a disorder to be creative, but in general the chances of having exceptional creativity do increase when you're manic depressive. Whether it's a blessing or a curse I'll leave to the people with personal experience.